My cat is very sick and hasn't eaten for 2 days.

My 9 yr. old cat is not eating or drinking and had diarrhea this morning. When I open his favorite canned food (tuna), he sniffs it and starts dry heaving. He is very lethargic and not himself at all. I am really worried.

I made an appointment at the vet this morning. She ran blood work and everything came back OK. Then she took an X-ray and dark gaps (gas) could be seen in different spots throughout his colon. She also was concerned about a spot on the bottom of his stomach. She doesn't know what it is but thinks it could be an obstruction.

The vet gave him Pepsid, a subcutaneous fluid injection, an appetite inducer, and Gerber baby food. She said that he may pass whatever is obstructing his stomach over night and to take him back tomorrow morning at 8am for another X-ray. That was $440. If he needs an ultra sound tomorrow, that will be another $520, and surgery could cost an additional $1200.

When I got home, he ate the entire jar of baby food and seemed so much better. Now, 7 hours later, he is dry heaving again, not eating, and looks so sick! Has anyone experienced similar symptoms with your cat(s) before? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Susan Marie, honestly, I would go back to the ER and ask for another x-ray. Is he vomiting projectile vomit? If he is looking so sick, I don't think I would wait.... IMHO they have to do something to get that out of there.
When my cat got blocked they gave her an enema, lots of fluids, and I kept syringe feeding her until she started eating on her own again. The enema helped a lot.

Caroline, thank you so much for your reply and advice. He does not have projectile vomit. He is dry heaving and throwing up saliva and mucus about every half hour. The vet gave him a fluid injection behind his neck so he stays hydrated throughout the day, enough to sustain him until tomorrow morning. I just called the emergency vet and they said to keep an eye on him and to bring him in if he continues to vomit. He didn't throw up any food, though - just saliva. Do you think that the food could have pushed whatever was obstructing his stomach through his system since he is only vomiting saliva? He still looks very sick, but he did get up a little while ago and walked down the hall.

He won't eat. He sniffs his food and then dry heaves or spits up a little puddle of saliva. He had enough energy though to jump on top of the washing machine, so I don't think I'll need to take him to the emergency vet tonight. If he gets worse, I'll take him right away though. Thanks so much for your help. I'll let you know how things go tomorrow.

The gas on his tummy will cause him to not want to eat and the dry heaves. Did the vet give him something to soothe his tummy? Call the ER vet back and ask them about giving him 1/2 of a 10mg Pepcid tablet to calm his tummy.

Stephanie, thank you for your advice. If my cat was eating, that would probably work if I crushed it and put it in his food. But he won't eat anything and would never allow me to force him to eat it. The vet forced him today to eat a pill and he smacked it right out of her and she screamed. At least he still has fight in him!

Update: I just got back from the vet and his follow up X-ray showed a huge decrease in gas pockets. The vet thinks that the obstruction may be moving through his intestines, so she gave him more fluid, Pepcid, and a laxative. He ate a little as soon as we got home, but vomited a small puddle of saliva/bile a short while later. However, the vet is hopeful that the obstruction may pass in the next 24 hours. If not, she told me to call tomorrow before bringing him in again. He may just need more time to allow it to pass.

I am happy with the good news, but not convinced that it will pass so easily. As I mentioned, he already vomited 15 minutes after eating and arriving home. There was no food in the saliva, though - not sure if that is good or bad. Just hoping for the best...

Carolina, I am prepared to feed him through syringes if necessary and I am going to pick up some cans of Hills A/D. Can I find that brand at Petco or Petsmart? Thanks for the tip!

A/d is a prescription food and is only available from your vet. You might be able to go to PetsMart and have them call your vet for a prescription and have it filled through them if your vet's not open today.

Try adding some plain canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie spice stuff) to the food. Pumpkin has lots of fiber in it and helps constipated kitties stay regular and pass their stools more easily. In this situation, it might help the obstruction move along a bit faster. Most kitties like the taste of it, too.

Glad the gas pockets are decreasing. So hard to see your kitty in pain and not really know what to do or what's causing it. Have you recently changed his food or is he shedding excessively?

Carolina, he has eaten more than one can of baby food. He ate that yesterday and half a can of food. It was during the evening that he got nauseous again and started dry heaving and vomiting saliva. He wouldn't eat anything after 5pm last night, so we went to the vet again this morning. The vet said to try to give him food again to see it he'll eat it and to wait for the obstruction to pass. The vet thinks it may pass by tomorrow, but as of right now, he still hasn't pooped. He has only eaten 1/4 of a can of food today, but he got fluids injected at the vet to avoid dehydration. He was also given more Pepcid to settle his stomach and a laxative. The only time he eats is as soon as we get home from the vet, but after the Pepcid wears off, he sniffs his food and walks away. The vet is hopeful that the obstruction is passing through his intestines, but I am still not convinced. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how his condition is tomorrow. My poor baby has been through so much...

Stephanie, thanks for the tip about the canned pumpkin. I am going to try it.

To answer your questions, I haven't changed his food and his shedding is normal. The vet thinks that whatever is obstruction his stomach/colon will pass by tomorrow. I want to believe that and hope that it does, but I have a feeling that it is not going to be that simple...

I guess I'll see how my poor baby does overnight.

If it was necessary to force feed him, I would. It's not. He ate a little after we arrived home from the vet today. He is unable to eat normally and to keep food down because of the obstruction. He takes a lick of his food every couple hours, which is much better than he was doing. Before he would lick it and then vomit. The X-rays today showed a large decrease in gas pockets, so the vet advised me to wait it out. They ran blood tests and his liver and kidneys are normal. I explained everything to the vet, and she said to give him time for his stomach to settle. Force feeding him would just make him vomit.

Thank you and thank you for all of your advice. Know that I would never let my cat suffer or go without food. He is very well taken care of and loved. I have spent over $750 in the past couple days, and would pay whatever it takes for him to get better and feel better. It kills me that he is sick.

When you say they did blood work, exactly, what did they do? They should of done a CBC and Wellness blood panel, and, it should be sent to Antech or Idexx, and not, done in house (at the vets).

This shows what the normal value ranges are, and what his values are, and if any are too high or too low. They should also give you a copy of it, all they do is photocopy it. You should keep it for your records.

They should have done 2 x-rays, one from the side, one from the top, x-rays are ballpark $85, CBC and Wellness blood panel, is ballpark $45. If the vet sees what they think, is an obstruction, they should send you immed, to have an ultrasound done, that is ballpark $350, that, will show, if there is an obstruction or not.

The dark spots you see, in his intestines, are gas pockets, hopefully, they showed you the x-rays, they should have, he should have been put on Metronidazole.

They need to determine, and not just "think" if there is an obstruction or not, and go from there. They also have to determine, what, the obstruction is, and not just hope it passes, it depends on what it is.

It is imperative, you keep him hydrated, as kitties can become dehydrated very quickly, which would cause him not to feel well, and not want to eat, as well as the gas pockets would.

Start with 1/2 teaspoon Gerber chicken baby food, mix with luke warm water, so it is like a broth. This keeps him hydrated, and gets some nutrition in him. If he keeps that down, wait a couple of hrs, then give him some more.

All the pepcid ac does, is settle his tummy, kinda like you or I taking pepto, it helps with the nausea, so they will eat. You have a bigger prob, the gas, that needs to be treated with Metronidazole, the gas has to be treated first, and that is not going to happen with pepcid ac.

I been thru this a few times, he should have been feeling better by now.

Best of luck.

How's he doing this morning? Also, you might ask your vet about giving him Pepcid at home at night, 1/4 of a 10mg tablet nightly. Oh! Something else you can try is Slippery Elm Bark. Both of these are often given to kitties who have upset tummy & constipation problems related to renal failure (I had a CRF kitty.) The dose is 1/8 t -1/4 t daily. (I'm not saying that your cat has renal failure, but upset stomach and inability to poop are side effects of CRF and perhaps these things will help your guy.)

BlueDallasStar- Yes, the vet did a CBC and a blood panel. All results fell into the normal category. I am going to get a copy of it for my records. They only took one side X-ray because that was all they needed to verify that there was an obstruction.

I can see that prices are much cheaper in Dallas compared to NJ. The X-ray was $150, and the CBC was $179. The ultrasound would have been $520, but thankfully it seems to have passed. I have no idea how it did though or what it was because I've been checking his poop for the past two days. I have paid almost $800 already...

He is still eating Gerber turkey and gravy baby food to settle his stomach. He actually has his appetite back and I couldn't be happier!

You seem to really know your stuff because everything you mentioned took place at the vet's. Thank you so much for your help!

Stephanie, thank you for asking. He is doing SO MUCH better!!! His tummy seems to have settled and he went poop last night for the first time. His appetite is back, but he still can't meow. He looks up at me and makes a little "ah - ah" sound when he tries to meow. I wonder if his throat hurts from all the vomiting and dry heaving... It is such a relief to see him with more energy although he is still recovering. I wish I knew what was obstructing his system so I could look out for whatever he swallowed.

I really appreciate your help and concern. Thank you!

Oh good!! Glad he's doing better!! It's so hard on us when they're sick and can't tell us where it hurts or what's wrong.

Update: My cat, Little Guy, is no longer able to meow. He makes an "Ah, Ah" sound when he tries to meow but cannot get any sound out. He used to be very vocal, especially at breakfast time, but now he makes a breathy Ah Ah sound. I thought that his vocal cords may have gotten strained because of his previous dry heaving and vomiting, but it seems that is not the case.

I called my vet who has been a vet for 20 years, and she said she has never heard of this happening before. She spoke with another vet and an internist, called me back, and said that she is stumped about why he can no longer meow.

Has this ever happened to anyone's cat? I am worried that something could be wrong...

Just last week my 3 yr old tom couldn't meow as he was quite vocal but that only lasted about 3-4 days then it came back. We do not know what happened or how it came back but perhaps yours will still come back. (we had those nice quiet mornings it was nice...)

I'm glad your kitty's meow came back, even though you enjoyed the peace and quiet.

It has been 3 weeks and Little Guy still can't make any sounds. During mealtimes, he looks up at me and tries to meow but nothing... I'm just shocked that the vet has never heard of this happening before...